In 1988, for Fathers Day, my loving wife gave me a gas barbecue. Of course it was still in the box needing to be assembled, and the extended family was coming over that night for dinner. Needless to say the meat had to be broiled that night and the following three frustrating weeks because the step-by-step instructions were too complicated. Lesson: Buy pre-built when possible.
After mastering barbecue assembly, my next project was to build an attractive brick patio. It was a great idea and something I could work on in my spare time. I even read a book on how to build it before gathering the materials.
I made a series of mistakes in my brick patio installation, including, but not limited to: measuring the area trying to make it so the brick would fit inside the edging I had staked down and deciding to saw cut the bricks to fit the dimensions I’d laid out, rather than adjusting the edging. Two hundred brick cuts later; I managed to end up with a patio that looked good until the next morning when a gopher popped up one of the brick in the middle of the patio. The patio survived until the weight from a tractor broke some of the bricks during our house remodel. When the heavy equipment left I decided to start anew. This time I did it right using lessons I had learned from my past mistakes. And these lessons on creating a beautiful patio I now pass on to you.
Lesson 1: Use the right materials. Road base or 5/8 minus crushed rock provides a great sub-base, unlike pea gravel that does not securely compact. Since I used a crushed rock base, I have never again had gophers disturb pavers. Of course you need to compact and smooth the base with a plate compactor.
Lesson 2: Use real paver edging secured with spikes. The only edging that goes down before pavers are laid is at the starting point. Once you establish where the pavers end you then put the edging butted up against the last course of pavers.
Lesson 3: Prepare base material a foot beyond where you will be laying pavers. Then if you measure incorrectly originally, there is more forgiveness.
Lesson 4: Level just one inch of sand for the paver bedding. Use two pieces of ¾” metal conduit laid on top of the crushed rock as a guide for leveling. Use a 2 x 4 over the conduit to drag (screed) the sand. There is a lot less friction than dragging a 2 x 4 over 2 x 6’s used as guides.
Lesson 5: Level only sand in just the area where pavers are about to be laid. Otherwise overnight critters will ruin your hard work.
Lesson 6: If there are more than a few cuts, rent a saw. The Flintstone hammer and chisel method is ok for cutting a couple pavers, however, the saw is fantastic for multiple cuts or angle cuts.
Lesson 7: Using a contrasting color or texture of paver for the outside edge gives the patio a frame and custom finished look.
Lesson 8: It may be just me; however projects usually take twice the original estimated time. So be sure to take into account when planning.
Lesson 9: If you feel overwhelmed by your project, hire a contractor. Sometimes it’s worth the money to hire a contractor. It's the same as buying pre-built.
Brian Healow
DIY Segment Manager
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Saturday Landscape Designer Service
Great things sometimes come from the simplest of ideas. In the summer of 2008, one of our sales reps working in a branch on a Saturday noticed that many of the homeowners coming in were seeking help and advice beyond the basic product oriented questions. Most, in fact, were looking for help with the overall design of their landscape projects. Since we work closely with the design community, the idea seemed simple; connect our homeowner clientele with the local landscape designers. The result has been a win-win-win. Mutual Materials provides the locations and the product displays, the designers meet with potential clients and the homeowners get a free initial design consultation.
The Mutual Materials’ Landscape Designer Program is available every Saturday during the summer season at three of our Washington locations: Bellevue, Vancouver and Spokane. Homeowners are welcome to come in during normal Saturday business hours and get a free 30-minute consult with the landscape designer on duty. There will also be designer information and an appointment sign up sheet during the week preceding each Saturday, so appointments may be set beforehand. After the initial meeting, it is up to the homeowner to decide if they want to proceed with future fee-based design meetings with that designer. This is a great opportunity to ask basic design questions as they relate to your specific project, and it allows the designers to showcase their particular style. Hopefully your ideas, project goals and design philosophies line up resulting in a mutually beneficial partnership.
For more information about the Saturday Designer Program, our branch locations and hours, or our hardscape and masonry products, please visit our website at: www.mutualmaterials.com.
Rob Rosson
Residential Sales Manager
The Mutual Materials’ Landscape Designer Program is available every Saturday during the summer season at three of our Washington locations: Bellevue, Vancouver and Spokane. Homeowners are welcome to come in during normal Saturday business hours and get a free 30-minute consult with the landscape designer on duty. There will also be designer information and an appointment sign up sheet during the week preceding each Saturday, so appointments may be set beforehand. After the initial meeting, it is up to the homeowner to decide if they want to proceed with future fee-based design meetings with that designer. This is a great opportunity to ask basic design questions as they relate to your specific project, and it allows the designers to showcase their particular style. Hopefully your ideas, project goals and design philosophies line up resulting in a mutually beneficial partnership.
For more information about the Saturday Designer Program, our branch locations and hours, or our hardscape and masonry products, please visit our website at: www.mutualmaterials.com.
Rob Rosson
Residential Sales Manager
Monday, June 15, 2009
Serving Customers for over 100 years
Mutual Materials celebrates its 109th year in business in 2009. That means we have navigated a depression and some dozen recessions prior to the current one we are experiencing. That got me thinking about what it is that has led to our success though all these down economic cycles.
Sure we have a great breadth of quality products that are functional, stylish, and timeless.
You need those to be successful but products alone won’t keep you in business. It always has and still does boil down to taking care of our customers. Our number one priority for all these years has been and always will be…customer satisfaction.
So what’s new in how we service you, the customer? Well, in the past year we have added branches in Kalispell, Montana; Hayden, Idaho; and Bend, Oregon, bringing our total to 19 in the Northwest.
Recently we replaced our two smaller Vancouver branches with our flagship branch with over four acres of products and outdoor displays, and the largest natural stone inventory in the greater Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.
We’ve also expanded our hours so you can now visit us on Saturdays in most markets. For those branches that aren’t open on Saturdays, we have longer Friday hours during the summer months. Our Vancouver, Bellevue, and Spokane branches have even added a Landscape Designer program on Saturdays, which provides an on site landscape designer to assist you with your projects. You can stop by these locations on Saturday and receive a free 30-minute consultation on your backyard project.
What hasn’t changed for all these years is that you will still find our branches staffed with friendly, knowledgeable, professional people willing to help you make your project a success. Come check us out.
Sincerely,
Craig Olsen
Branch Operations Manager
Sure we have a great breadth of quality products that are functional, stylish, and timeless.
You need those to be successful but products alone won’t keep you in business. It always has and still does boil down to taking care of our customers. Our number one priority for all these years has been and always will be…customer satisfaction.
So what’s new in how we service you, the customer? Well, in the past year we have added branches in Kalispell, Montana; Hayden, Idaho; and Bend, Oregon, bringing our total to 19 in the Northwest.
Recently we replaced our two smaller Vancouver branches with our flagship branch with over four acres of products and outdoor displays, and the largest natural stone inventory in the greater Portland/Vancouver metropolitan area.
We’ve also expanded our hours so you can now visit us on Saturdays in most markets. For those branches that aren’t open on Saturdays, we have longer Friday hours during the summer months. Our Vancouver, Bellevue, and Spokane branches have even added a Landscape Designer program on Saturdays, which provides an on site landscape designer to assist you with your projects. You can stop by these locations on Saturday and receive a free 30-minute consultation on your backyard project.
What hasn’t changed for all these years is that you will still find our branches staffed with friendly, knowledgeable, professional people willing to help you make your project a success. Come check us out.
Sincerely,
Craig Olsen
Branch Operations Manager
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Summer of PICP
Summer has finally arrived. As if automatically signaled by the change of weather, our thoughts seem to involuntarily turn to the outdoors. We look forward to vacations, baseball games, picnics, weekends at the lake, gardening and neighborhood barbeques. We get introduced to our neighbors once again, chatting over the backyard fence while flipping burgers on the grill and impressing each other with ideas on how to keep lawns green and time-tested keys to successful childrearing. Maybe we boldly add our solution to the latest political controversy. However, since my neighbors’ yards are in much better shape than mine, and their children are so polite and well-behaved, it’s not easy for me to find a subject that I can use to really wow them.
Here’s one that I’m going to try this weekend, low impact development and permeable interlocking concrete pavement! Initially, that may sound a little too technical for a casual conversation, but I plan to add intrigue by using only the acronyms, LID and PICP. There’s nothing like a strategically placed acronym in casual conversation to hint at one’s superior understanding and intellect.
While watering the flower bed, I’ll casually start out something like this:
“Say, neighbor! What do you think about using PICP as a key component of an effective LID strategy?”
With an opening line like that, my neighbor would be speechless. I may give him additional hints of my keen insight into the subject by adding:
“Of course you know that PICP’s can help manage stormwater runoff by allowing direct infiltration, and they can work with other LID tools like rain gardens and bio-swales to minimize post-development impact.”
He’d really get envious with this:
“Yeah, I’ve actually been thinking of adding a PICP patio instead of just creating more impervious surface that will add to stormwater runoff. Besides, studies show that PICP systems can actually help improve water quality, too!”
Since he’s still speechless, I go for the home-run:
“My PICP patio will use Mutual Materials’ new Eco-Priora 4 x 8 and 8 x 8 permeable interlocking concrete pavers (oops, should have said PICP’s again) in a random pattern that will drain over 100 inches per hour of stormwater runoff, not that we’d ever need that much capacity. The smaller 3/8” joint spacing makes Eco-Priora the perfect paver for walking surfaces like plazas and patios, and the patented structural spacer system allows them to be successfully used in parking lots and even streets. And, the lighter natural gray cement color can give my patio a LEED point, too”
LEED, that’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). I can see the impressed look on my neighbor’s face already. There’s nothing like well-placed acronyms in casual conversation.
For more information on LID, go to:
http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/
For more information on Mutual Materials’ Eco-Priora PICP, go to: http://www.mutualmaterials.com/Professional_product.asp?pt_id=126&p_id=363
Sincerely,
Rick Crooks
Director of Business Development
Here’s one that I’m going to try this weekend, low impact development and permeable interlocking concrete pavement! Initially, that may sound a little too technical for a casual conversation, but I plan to add intrigue by using only the acronyms, LID and PICP. There’s nothing like a strategically placed acronym in casual conversation to hint at one’s superior understanding and intellect.
While watering the flower bed, I’ll casually start out something like this:
“Say, neighbor! What do you think about using PICP as a key component of an effective LID strategy?”
With an opening line like that, my neighbor would be speechless. I may give him additional hints of my keen insight into the subject by adding:
“Of course you know that PICP’s can help manage stormwater runoff by allowing direct infiltration, and they can work with other LID tools like rain gardens and bio-swales to minimize post-development impact.”
He’d really get envious with this:
“Yeah, I’ve actually been thinking of adding a PICP patio instead of just creating more impervious surface that will add to stormwater runoff. Besides, studies show that PICP systems can actually help improve water quality, too!”
Since he’s still speechless, I go for the home-run:
“My PICP patio will use Mutual Materials’ new Eco-Priora 4 x 8 and 8 x 8 permeable interlocking concrete pavers (oops, should have said PICP’s again) in a random pattern that will drain over 100 inches per hour of stormwater runoff, not that we’d ever need that much capacity. The smaller 3/8” joint spacing makes Eco-Priora the perfect paver for walking surfaces like plazas and patios, and the patented structural spacer system allows them to be successfully used in parking lots and even streets. And, the lighter natural gray cement color can give my patio a LEED point, too”
LEED, that’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the USGBC (United States Green Building Council). I can see the impressed look on my neighbor’s face already. There’s nothing like well-placed acronyms in casual conversation.
For more information on LID, go to:
http://www.lowimpactdevelopment.org/
For more information on Mutual Materials’ Eco-Priora PICP, go to: http://www.mutualmaterials.com/Professional_product.asp?pt_id=126&p_id=363
Sincerely,
Rick Crooks
Director of Business Development
Monday, June 1, 2009
Commercial Market Update
After a great run, the commercial construction market, like most other markets, is feeling the effect of the general slowdown in the economy. Major pieces of the market, mainly private development in the Retail and Office construction market, have all but stopped. Urban residential development is also suffering with high vacancy rates coupled with falling property values. The one bright spot is the public sector. Schools, hospitals, and the military continue to provide opportunities for the masonry industry. Washington, in particular, is benefiting from the construction of new and remodeled schools and work on the military bases.
While business is down, Mutual Materials continues to offer support to the design and construction community with full time architectural and sales representatives. While others in the construction business have found it necessary to cut back in these areas, Mutual has made the decision to stay the course. As the Northwest’s leading producer of brick and block we feel an obligation to those that design and build with our products. With this commitment we hope to help position our industry to emerge from this downturn even stronger and more popular than ever.
One of the ways we hope to influence the design community is through the many Continuing Education presentations that we provide. With the slowdown, architects have the time to listen and learn about the many ways masonry can resolve design issues while providing unique and sustainable buildings. So far, in 2009, we have provided over 50 AIA/CES lunchbox presentations to regional design firms. This activity provides a great forum to provide essential design information, while meeting new clients, and teaching the young apprentices, who will someday be designing the buildings we inhabit.
Besides pure promotion and education, our architectural reps fill the role of consultants on many masonry projects. In fact, color selection takes up only a fraction of the time our reps spend in an office when working on a new masonry project. In many cases, our reps spend many hours helping to guide the designers through important details, specifications, and product layout. This activity is critical to ensure that architects feel comfortable and confident when designing with masonry products.
If you are a designer and would like further information on available educational opportunities, please check our website for instructions on how to contact us. If you are a contractor and would like more information about our support and services, please contact your local Mutual Materials representative.
Sincerely,
Gary Zagelow
Commercial Sales Manager
While business is down, Mutual Materials continues to offer support to the design and construction community with full time architectural and sales representatives. While others in the construction business have found it necessary to cut back in these areas, Mutual has made the decision to stay the course. As the Northwest’s leading producer of brick and block we feel an obligation to those that design and build with our products. With this commitment we hope to help position our industry to emerge from this downturn even stronger and more popular than ever.
One of the ways we hope to influence the design community is through the many Continuing Education presentations that we provide. With the slowdown, architects have the time to listen and learn about the many ways masonry can resolve design issues while providing unique and sustainable buildings. So far, in 2009, we have provided over 50 AIA/CES lunchbox presentations to regional design firms. This activity provides a great forum to provide essential design information, while meeting new clients, and teaching the young apprentices, who will someday be designing the buildings we inhabit.
Besides pure promotion and education, our architectural reps fill the role of consultants on many masonry projects. In fact, color selection takes up only a fraction of the time our reps spend in an office when working on a new masonry project. In many cases, our reps spend many hours helping to guide the designers through important details, specifications, and product layout. This activity is critical to ensure that architects feel comfortable and confident when designing with masonry products.
If you are a designer and would like further information on available educational opportunities, please check our website for instructions on how to contact us. If you are a contractor and would like more information about our support and services, please contact your local Mutual Materials representative.
Sincerely,
Gary Zagelow
Commercial Sales Manager
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